Amarone della Valpolicella “Archivio Storico Zenato” Riserva DOC 2013 · 0,75l in OWC

Zenato | Veneto
Zenato Az. Vitivinicola S.r.l. | Via San Benedetto 8 | IT 37019 Peschiera del Garda

03073513 · 0,75 l · 398,67 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shipping< 24 units available
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There are stories that take time. This Amarone rested for ten years in a single 30-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrel – a decade of patient ageing, of slow metamorphosis, of quiet perfection. Only 2,500 numbered bottles and 200 magnums were bottled from the 2013 vintage, each in its own wooden crate, a monument to the philosophy that Carla Prospero Zenato formulates as follows: "Ci sono storie che richiedono il loro tempo" – there are stories that demand their time.

The Amarone Archivio Storico is produced exclusively in exceptional vintages from the legendary Costalunga vineyard in Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella. Here, at an altitude of 350 metres, the family's oldest Corvina vines are rooted in Cretaceous soils of marl and limestone – a geological heritage from prehistoric times. The grapes, 80 per cent Corvina, supplemented by Oseleta, Rondinella and Croatina, are dried in small wooden crates for four months, pressed in January and then fermented on the skins for 15 to 20 days. What follows is meditation in wood: a decade of transformation.

In the glass, this wine is an impenetrable ruby red colour, full-bodied and dense. The nose literally explodes: Amarena cherries in alcohol, blackberry jam, balsamic notes, dried flowers, dark spices – a polychrome symphony of flavours with vertical tension. Massive density unfolds on the palate, paradoxically interspersed with a dancing freshness – that "nota fresca" that repeatedly shines through and transforms the monumental structure into ethereal elegance. The harmony is absolute, the persistence endless. A wine of extreme noblesse: Not only made for drinking, but also for marvelling at ... SUPERIORE.DE

"The 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Archivio Storico Zenato opens a fascinating window on the evolution of Amarone in the bottle. The wine's vibrant vigour is fully intact - we're talking about a 17% alcohol wine here - as is its syrupy, rich extraction. There are flavours of baked fruit, sweet tobacco and wood smoke. The main change that the winery would certainly like to emphasise is the gentle development and integration of the tannins, which appear structured but are also characterised by soft, velvety sensations. This wine, tasted 12 years after the harvest, is now showing beautifully." Wine Advocate

"Flavours of plums, vanilla, truffle, chocolate with 70% cocoa content and tamarind. Silky texture with full body, elegance, fresh acidity and a long, umami aftertaste. You won't feel its 17% alcohol." James Suckling

"A dense, brooding red, leading with a savory range of briary herb, iron, leather and loamy earth notes that give way to a sweet core of sun-dried cherry, raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, dark chocolate and smoky espresso. There’s a statuesque feel to the chalky tannins, but they’re nicely enmeshed in a creamy texture and backed by palate-cleansing, balsamico-infused acidity. The long, harmonious finish just keeps going." Wine Spectator

"Mentholated herbs mingle with cedar shavings, dried orange peel and black cherries as the 2013 Amarone Classico della Valpolicella Archivio Storico slowly evolves in the glass. The cool and racy style shows exceptional finesse, with mineral red berry fruit and a cascade of rose tones on the inside. It finishes with impossible length, rather savoury and mineral, with crisp tannins and a finish of tart raspberry. The Archivio Storico's last vintage was 2008 and the next will be 2018, all years that lend themselves well to long ageing. In a word: captivating." Vinous